Acta Anaesthesiologica Taiwanica
Volume 48, Issue 2 , Pages 103-106, June 2010

Hypothermia as a Cause of Coagulopathy During Hepatectomy

Department of Anesthesia, Pain Service and Critical Care Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C

Received 23 March 2009; received in revised form 22 July 2009; accepted 27 July 2009.

We report a 27-year-old hemostatically competent female scheduled for partial hepatectomy. During the operation, she experienced an accidental inferior vena cava tear and suffered acute blood loss. After fluid resuscitation and blood transfusion, she developed hypothermia, with a temperature of 33.8°C, and severe coagulopathy with activated clotting time exceeding 1500 seconds measured using the Hemochron Response system (ITC, Edison, NJ, USA). Despite sufficient blood transfusion and correction of her electrolyte imbalance, the poor hemostasis persisted. After per-forming peritoneal lavage with warm saline, her condition dramatically improved and her hypothermia and severe coagulopathy were reversed.

Key Words:  blood coagulation: coagulopathy , hypothermia

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PII: S1875-4597(10)60023-9

doi:10.1016/S1875-4597(10)60023-9

Acta Anaesthesiologica Taiwanica
Volume 48, Issue 2 , Pages 103-106, June 2010